We forget that it is a miracle because it is ubiquitous, but through the miracle of satellite
transmission of television, I was able to be in Rome and watch Pope Benedict install six new
cardinals on Sunday. Not that I’m a
Roman Catholic. I’m a Black Protestant
as my grandmother used to say. But I
love the Baldacchino and am amazed that any single individual could have access
to it as the canopy for his personal throne.
Well, it is the Throne of St. Peter after all, and it is St.
Peter’s Basilica, the chapel of the pope.
In addition to the astonishing beauty of the setting, and
the costumes of the clergy there was a narration unpacking their significance: The biretta (three cornered hat) of the cardinal is bright red to signify the sacrifice of blood which the
Crucifixion symbolizes and which a
cardinal might also be called upon to make---think Cardinal Romera, shot at the
altar, or Pope John Paul II himself who was shot in a motorcade. That was big
news. Lesser news was that the pope went to visit his would-be-assassin in jail
and forgave him. Symbolism isn’t news to
the media, I guess.
The other remarkable thing about the ceremony is that it
existed at all. The church was constructed from 1506-1623 and Bernini and
Michaelangelo were two of its four primary designers. Not a bad architectural
firm if you can get it.
I watched this ceremony in the 400 year old structure the same day an article appeared in the New York Times entitled Is This the End? predicting that
in 20, 50 or 100 years, sooner or later, Manhattan
It’s a good thing that Rome Italy
Nature doesn’t exempt
art or architecture from her wrathful palette. She knows no "Renaissance masters" ---nor any other masters for that matter, despite what man in his hubris, might think.
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